This invention relates generally to apparatus and methods for controlled dispensing of scheduled and/or unscheduled medications to a hospitalized patient or the like. More specifically, this invention relates to an improved medication dispensing system for controlled medication dispensing in accordance with individually preprogrammed patient requirements and in a manner creating an accurate and detailed patient medication record.
In a hospital environment, patients commonly require administration of a wide range of different medications chosen in accordance with the medical treatment and/or condition of each individual patient. For example, many patients require administration of one or more medications in accordance with scheduled time intervals throughout a given day. Alternately, or in addition, the hospitalized patient may require administration of other medications such as pain relievers, decongestants or the like on an unscheduled, as needed basis. The relative complexities involved in administering many different schedules and unscheduled medications to many different patients increases the potential for human errors such as a failure to deliver the correct medicine and dosage on a timely basis to the correct patient.
More specifically, in the past, patient medications have traditionally been delivered from the pharmacy of a hospital or other medical institution to a centralized paitent floor location for convenient yet limited access by a nurse or other authorized personnel. Written schedules such as nursing and/or patient charts have been provided with appropriate medication information for each patient. The nursing staff has been required to consult these charts for the times and types of medications to be given to each patient, and to manually record each medication dispensing event. Unfortunately, this approach relies almost entirely upon human monitoring of medication schedules and human creation of medication dispensing records. As a result, occasional errors occur in terms of medication timing, type, or dosage, or in the creation of a medication dispensing record.
An improved approach to dispensing of medications in a hospital or the like is described in my previous U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,601, which describes a locked dispensing cabinet positioned, for example, at patient bedside within a hospital room. The dispensing cabinet is loaded periodically by pharmacy personnel and is then locked against direct access by the patient or other unauthorized persons. Timers are set to activate an appropriate nurse signal or alarm when scheduled medication dispensing is due, at which time nursing personnel can unlock the cabinet for access to and administration of the appropriate medication. Accordingly, this dispensing cabinet helps to eliminate dispensing of incorrect medications since the cabinet contains only those medications prescribed for the associated patient. However, when the dispensing cabinet is unlocked, access is permitted to all of the medications loaded therein whereby the medications can still be administered in incorrect dosages and/or removed from the cabinet for administering to the patient at the wrong time. Further, the station does not include automated means for insuring creation of an accurate record of medication administration to a patient.
There exists, therefore, a need for further improvements in medication dispensing apparatus and methods, particularly wherein access to medication is limited to a precise type and limited dosage to be administered to a specific patient, and further, wherein creation of an accurate patient medication record is insured. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages.